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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 1,333 records · Page 74
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

A Data-Driven Exploration of the Impact of Renewable Energy on Inter-Area Oscillations in the U.S. Eastern Interconnection

As increasing amounts of renewable energy (RE) resources are incorporated into the bulk-power grid, power system oscillations are expected to change. This work investigates how RE generation impacts the frequency and damping ratio (DR) of two dominant inter-area modes in the U.S. Eastern Interconnection (EI) using regularly updated estimates collected over a 12-month period. Quantile regression is used to derive the correlation between operating conditions and mode properties, and a bootstrap method is used to quantify the uncertainty associated with the correlation estimates. Results show that with an increase in system load, the frequency of a mode decreases and DR increases. Evidence that increasing RE generation results in an increase in frequency and decline in DR was found for one of the two modes studied. This work shows that increasing RE levels will impact the properties of inter-area oscillations in the EI, but it does not indicate the presence of immediate threats to grid stability. The outlined approach can be used to periodically assess changing mode properties as RE levels continue to grow and flag stability concerns before they become serious reliability threats.

Inter-area oscillation, mode meters, quantile regr↗
DOE OSTI2011

Effects of tapering structures on the characteristics of a coaxial-waveguide gyrotron backward-wave oscillator

This study analyzes the characteristics of a gyrotron backward-wave oscillator (gyro-BWO) with a longitudinally tapered coaxial-waveguide by using a single-mode, self-consistent nonlinear code. Simulation results indicate that although tapering the inner wall or the outer wall can significantly raise the start-oscillation current, the former is more suitable for mode selection than the latter because an increase of the start-oscillation current by a tapered inner wall heavily depends on the chosen C value (i.e., the average ratio of the outer radius to the inner radius over the axial waveguide length). Selective suppression of the competing mode by tapering the inner wall is numerically demonstrated. Moreover, efficiency of the coaxial gyro-BWO is increased by tapering the outer wall. Properly down-tapering the outer wall ensures that the coaxial gyro-BWO can reach a maximum efficiency over twice that with a uniform one.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2012

Numerical investigation of edge plasma phenomena in an enhanced D-alpha discharge at Alcator C-Mod: Parallel heat flux and quasi-coherent edge oscillations

Reduced-model scrape-off layer turbulence (SOLT) simulations of an enhanced D-alpha (EDA) H-mode shot observed in the Alcator C-Mod tokamak were conducted to compare with observed variations in the scrape-off-layer (SOL) width of the parallel heat flux profile. In particular, the role of the competition between sheath- and conduction-limited parallel heat fluxes in determining that width was studied for the turbulent SOL plasma that emerged from the simulations. The SOL width decreases with increasing input power and with increasing separatrix temperature in both the experiment and the simulation, consistent with the strong temperature dependence of the parallel heat flux in balance with the perpendicular transport by turbulence and blobs. The particularly strong temperature dependence observed in the case analyzed is attributed to the fact that these simulations produce SOL plasmas which are in the conduction-limited regime for the parallel heat flux. A persistent quasi-coherent (QC) mode dominates the SOLT simulations and bears considerable resemblance to the QC mode observed in C-Mod EDA operation. The SOLT QC mode consists of nonlinearly saturated wave-fronts located just inside the separatrix that are convected poloidally by the mean flow, continuously transporting particles and energy and intermittently emitting blobs into the SOL.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
NASA NTRS1991

Stability testing of a modified Space Shuttle Main Engine

The testing of the combustion stability characteristics of Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) 0208 is described in terms of augmenting the technology base for large O/H thrust-chamber assemblies. The throat area is increased by 12 percent over that of the flight SSMEs, and the thrust chamber assembly does not include stability aids. Acoustic modes in the chamber are excited by means of rapid pressure generators employed in the start-transient through mainstage operations. Stability characteristics are determined by damp times which are facilitated by high-frequency instrumentation measuring oscillations and locating stable operating regions. All vibration modes are damped to within the requirements for a chamber mode set forth by the Chemical Propulsion Information Agency. No sustained chamber acoustic oscillations are exhibited in engine 0208's combustion chamber configuration in spite of the absence of baffles and acoustic cavities.

Dennis, H.↗
NASA NTRS1984

An Excitation Mechanism for Solar 5-minute Oscillations of Intermediate and High Degree

The overstability of acoustic modes trapped in the solar convection zone is studied with mechanical and thermal effects of turbulence included, in an approximate manner, through the eddy transport coefficients. Many of these acoustic modes are found to be overstable with the most rapidly growing modes occupying a region centered around 3.2 mHz and spread over a wide range of length-scales. The numerical results are in reasonable accord with the observed power-spectrum of the five-minute oscillations of intermediate and high degree. The oscillations are probably driven by a simultaneous operation of the kappa-mechanism and the turbulent conduction (convective Cowling) mechanism, the dominant contribution to the generation of self-excited acoustic waves arising from the convective Cowling mechanism.

Antia, H. M.↗
DOE OSTI2018

Decadal Shift of NAO-Linked Interannual Sea Level Variability along the U.S. Northeast Coast

Recent studies have linked interannual sea level variability and extreme events along the U.S. northeast coast (NEC) to the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), a natural internal climate mode that prevails in the North Atlantic Ocean. The correlation between the NAO index and coastal sea level north of Cape Hatteras was weak from the 1960s to the mid-1980s, but it has markedly increased since around 1987. The causes for the decadal shift remain unknown. Yet understanding the abrupt change is vital for decadal sea level prediction and is essential for risk management. Here we use a robust method, the Bayesian dynamic linear model (DLM), to explore the nonstationary NAO impact on NEC sea level. The results show that a spatial pattern change of NAO-related winds near the NEC is a major cause of the NAO–sea level relationship shift. A new index using regional sea level pressure is developed that is a significantly better predictor of NEC sea level than is the NAO and is strongly linked to the intensity of westerly winds near the NEC. Finally, these results point to the vital importance of monitoring regional changes of wind and sea level pressure patterns, rather than the NAO index alone, to achieve more accurate predictions of sea level change along the NEC.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1960

Experimental Investigation of the Natural Frequencies of Liquids in Toroidal Tanks

Several toroidal configurations applicable to missile and space-vehicle liquid storage systems were oscillated to study the natural frequencies of the antisymmetric modes of contained liquids over a range of liquid depths and tank sizes. Natural frequencies for tank oscillations parallel to the free surface of both vertical and horizontal tank orientations. Natural frequencies were obtained. The data are presented in terms of dimensionless parameters which are obtained by relating experimentally determined natural liquid frequencies to analytical expressions developed through consideration of the physics of the problem and from existing solutions for liquids in tanks having similar boundaries at the liquid surface. The experimental results obtained for the toroids indicate that these parameters are applicable to the prediction of the natural frequencies of fluids in toroids of general geometry and size.

McCarty, John Locke↗
DOE OSTI2024

Core electron temperature turbulence and transport during sawtooth oscillations in the DIII-D tokamak

Abstract Sawteeth are one of the concerning instabilities in ITER and future burning plasma experiments. Sawtooth dynamics and its interaction with broadband plasma turbulence has been a challenge for predictive simulations of core transport in future fusion devices. This study provides new observations of core turbulence behavior during sawtooth oscillations in DIII-D hydrogen L-mode neutral beam injection heated plasmas in an inner wall limited configuration. A strong correlation of electron temperature and density turbulence levels with the sawtooth oscillation phase has been observed at locations inside the T e inversion radius and/or safety factor q = 1 magnetic surface. The T e turbulence amplitude in the core during the sawtooth ramp exhibits a critical T e gradient behavior inside but not near the T e inversion radius/ q = 1 magnetic surface. The most unstable mode calculated from the trapped gyro-landau fluid turbulence simulations reveal a change from low- k ion-type to low-k electron-type modes from pre- to post- sawtooth crash time periods.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

The scalar bi-spectrum in the Starobinsky model: the equilateral case

While a featureless, nearly scale invariant, primordial scalar power spectrum fits the most recent Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) data rather well, certain features in the spectrum are known to lead to a better fit to the data (although, the statistical significance of such results remains an open issue). In the inflationary scenario, one or more periods of deviations from slow roll are necessary in order to generate features in the scalar perturbation spectrum. Over the last couple of years, it has been recognized that such deviations from slow roll inflation can also result in reasonably large non-Gaussianities. The Starobinsky model involves the canonical scalar field and consists of a linear inflaton potential with a sudden change in the slope. The change in the slope causes a brief period of departure from slow roll which, in turn, results in a sharp rise in power, along with a burst of oscillations in the scalar spectrum for modes that leave the Hubble radius just before and during the period of fast roll. The hallmark of the Starobinsky model is that it allows the scalar power spectrum to be evaluated analytically in terms of the three parameters that describe the model, viz. the two slopes that describe the potential on either side of the discontinuity and the Hubble scale at the time when the field crosses the discontinuity. In this work, we evaluate the bi-spectrum of the scalar perturbations in the Starobinsky model in the equilateral limit. Remarkably, we find that, just as the power spectrum, all the different contributions to the the bi-spectrum too can be evaluated completely analytically and expressed in terms of the three paramaters that describe the model. We show that the quantity f{sub NL}, which characterizes the extent of non-Gaussianity, can be expressed purely in terms of the ratio of the two slopes on either side of the discontinuity in the potential. Further, we find that, for certain values of the parameters, f{sub NL} in the Starobinsky model can be as large as the mean value that has been arrived at from the analysis of the recent CMB data. We also demonstrate that the usual hierarchy of contributions to the bi-spectrum can be altered for certain values of the parameters. Altogether, we find that the Starobinsky model represents a unique scenario wherein, even when the slow roll conditions are violated, the background, the perturbations as well as the corresponding two and three point correlation functions can be evaluated completely analytically. As a consequence, the Starobinsky model can also be used to calibrate numerical codes aimed at computing the non-Gaussianities.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1995

Temporal variation of meandering intensity and domain-wide lateral oscillations of the Gulf Stream

The path of the Gulf Stream exhibits two modes of variability: wavelike spatial meanders associated with instability processes and large-sale lateral shifts of the path presumably due to atmospheric forcing. The objectives of this study are to examine the temporal variation of the intensity of spatial meandering in the stream, to characterize large-scale lateral oscillations in the stream's path, and to study the correlation betwen these two dynamically distinct modes of variability. The data used for this analysis are path displacemets ofthe Gulf Stream between 75 deg and 60 deg W obtained from AVHRR-derived (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer) infrared images for the period April 1982 through December 1989. Meandering intensity, measured by the spatial root-mean-sqaure displacement of the stream path, displays a 9-month dominant periodicity which is persistent through the study period. The 9-month fluctuation in meandering intensity may be related to the interaction of Rosseby waves with the stream. Interannual variation of meandering intensity is also found to be significant, with meandering being mich more intense during 1985 than it was in 1987. Annual variation, however,is weak and not well-defined.The spatially averaged position of the stream, which reflects nonmeandering large-scale lateral oscillations of the stream path, is dominated by an annual cycle. On average, the mean position is farthest north in November and farthest south in April. The first empirical orthogonal function mode of the space-time path displacements represents lateral oscillatins that are in-phase over the space-time domain. Interannual oscillations are also observed and are found to be weaker than the annual oscillation. The eigenvalue of the first mode indicates that about 21.5% of the total space-time variability of the stream path can be attibuted to domain-wide lateral oscillation. The correlation between meandering intensity and domain-wide lateral oscillations is very weak.

Lee, Tong↗
DOE OSTI2015

Extending the physics basis of quiescent H-mode toward ITER relevant parameters

Recent experiments on DIII-D have addressed several long-standing issues needed to establish quiescent H-mode (QH-mode) as a viable operating scenario for ITER. In the past, QH-mode was associated with low density operation, but has now been extended to high normalized densities compatible with operation envisioned for ITER. Through the use of strong shaping, QH-mode plasmas have been maintained at high densities, both absolute ($\bar{n}$ e ≈ 7 × 10 19 m ₋3 ) and normalized Greenwald fraction ($\bar{n}$ e /n G > 0.7). In these plasmas, the pedestal can evolve to very high pressure and edge current as the density is increased. High density QH-mode operation with strong shaping has allowed access to a previously predicted regime of very high pedestal dubbed “Super H-mode”. Calculations of the pedestal height and width from the EPED model are quantitatively consistent with the experimentally observed density evolution. The confirmation of the shape dependence of the maximum density threshold for QH-mode helps validate the underlying theoretical model of peeling- ballooning modes for ELM stability. In general, QH-mode is found to achieve ELM- stable operation while maintaining adequate impurity exhaust, due to the enhanced impurity transport from an edge harmonic oscillation, thought to be a saturated kink- peeling mode driven by rotation shear. In addition, the impurity confinement time is not affected by rotation, even though the energy confinement time and measured E×B shear are observed to increase at low toroidal rotation. Together with demonstrations of high beta, high confinement and low q 95 for many energy confinement times, these results suggest QH-mode as a potentially attractive operating scenario for the ITER Q=10 mission.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
NASA NTRS1971

The quasi-inertial and wide-deadband modes as backup attitude options for the Skylab mission

The quasi-inertial (QI) and wide deadband (WDB) modes were investigated as alternatives to the solar inertial (SI) mode in case two control moment gyros fail during the Skylab mission. Both modes provide a substantial reduction in propellant requirements from the solar interial hold requirement with either the orbital assembly/thruster attitude control system or service module reaction control system. Spacecraft motion in the QI mode is produced by a command rate and results in a small amplitude oscillation (17 deg, maximum) about the SI orientation. In the WDB mode a somewhat similar, but larger amplitude motion (35 deg maximum) about the SI orientation is developed by appropriate choice of controller deadbands and switch line slopes.

Elrod, B. D.↗
DOE OSTI2014

Surface activity and oscillation amplitudes of red giants in eclipsing binaries

Among the 19 red-giant stars belonging to eclipsing binary systems that have been identified in Kepler data, 15 display solar-like oscillations. We study whether the absence of mode detection in the remaining 4 is an observational bias or possibly evidence of mode damping that originates from tidal interactions. A careful analysis of the corresponding Kepler light curves shows that modes with amplitudes that are usually observed in red giants would have been detected if they were present. We observe that mode depletion is strongly associated with short-period systems, in which stellar radii account for 16%-24% of the semi-major axis, and where red-giant surface activity is detected. We suggest that when the rotational and orbital periods synchronize in close binaries, the red-giant component is spun up, so that a dynamo mechanism starts and generates a magnetic field, leading to observable stellar activity. Pressure modes would then be damped as acoustic waves dissipate in these fields.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Pygmy resonances: what’s in a name?

The centroid, width and percentage of energy weighted sum rule of dipole resonances can be strongly affected by dynamical fluctuations and static deformations of the nuclear surface, deformations and fluctuations which, in turn, depend on pairing, and thus on Cooper pairs. Because of angular momentum conservation, such insight is restricted, to lowest order, to fluctuations/deformations of quadrupole and monopole type. The latter being closely connected with the neutron (excess) skin and thus with soft dipole modes. From the values ( N - Z)/ A ≈ 0.18, 0.21, and 0.45 for the nuclei 122 Sn, 208 Pb, and 11 Li, it is expected that the latter system, which is weakly bound by pairing effects (spatially extended single Cooper pair and odd proton acting as spectator), constitutes an attractive laboratory to study the properties of soft E 1-modes and thus of isospin nuclear deformation. From the calculation of the full dipole response function in QRPA, discretizing the continuum in a spherical box of radius of 40 fm, one finds a GDR with centroid E x ≈ 24 MeV, width Γ ≈11 MeV and carrying 90% of the EWSR, and a low-lying collective resonance characterized by E X = 0.75 MeV, Γ = 0.5 MeV and 6.2% EWSR. The wave function of the latter resonance is built out of about fifteen components (both protons and neutrons), typical of a collective mode. The transition densities indicate this soft E 1 - mode to be generated by surface density oscillation of the neutron (halo) skin (Δ r np ≈ 1.71 fm) relative to an approximately isospin-saturated core. Through a detailed study of the full dipole response of 11 Li we will draw a comparison between the soft E 1 - mode of this halo nucleus and the PDR of heavy stable nuclei, pointing to the physical similarities and also to the basic differences.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Real time quantum gravity dynamics from classical statistical Yang-Mills simulations

We perform microcanonical classical statistical lattice simulations of SU(N) Yang-Mills theory with eight scalars on a circle. Measuring the eigenvalue distribution of the spatial Wilson loop we find two distinct phases depending on the total energy and circle radius, which we tentatively interpret as corresponding to black hole and black string phases in a dual gravity picture. We proceed to study quenches by first preparing the system in one phase, rapidly changing the total energy, and monitoring the real-time system response. We observe that the system relaxes to the equilibrium phase corresponding to the new energy, in the process exhibiting characteristic damped oscillations. We interpret this as the topology change from black hole to black string configurations, with damped oscillations corresponding to quasi-normal mode ringing of the black hole/black string final state. This would suggest that α′ corrections alone can resolve the singularity associated with the topology change. We extract the real and imaginary part of the lowest-lying presumptive quasinormal mode as a function of energy and N.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2022

Tropical Oceanic Influences on Observed Global Tropical Cyclone Frequency

Abstract The global tropical cyclone (TC) number has historically been relatively constant from year‐to‐year, however, the reason remains unknown. Furthermore, climate projections are inconclusive regarding future global TC frequency changes. Here, we investigated years in which observed global TC activity deviated from the mean and potential links to ocean drivers from 1980 to 2021. We found that the annual global number of named storm days and accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) were significantly linked with El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Atlantic Meridional Mode (AMM). La Niña and positive AMM are associated with the bottom percentiles of both TC metrics, and vice versa for El Niño and negative AMM. The ENSO Longitude Index explains variability in annual global named storm days and ACE as well as the Niño 3.4 index. This research reveals that reliable future projections of ENSO are necessary, but not sufficient, to understand future changes in global TC frequency.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

The Role of Cloud Radiative Effects in the Propagating Southern Annular Mode

Abstract The Southern Annular Mode (SAM) is the most dominant natural mode of variability in the mid‐latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere (SH). However, both the sign and magnitude of the feedbacks from the diabatic processes, especially those associated with clouds, onto the SAM remain elusive. By applying the cloud locking technique to the Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM) atmosphere model, this study isolates the positive feedback from the cloud radiative effect (CRE) to the SAM. Feedback analysis based on a wave activity‐zonal momentum interaction framework corroborates this weak but positive feedback. While the magnitude of the CRE feedback appears to be secondary compared to the feedbacks from the dry and other diabatic processes, the indirect CRE effects through the interaction with other dynamical and thermodynamical processes appear to play as important a role as the direct CRE in the life cycle of the SAM. The cross‐EOF analysis further reveals the obstructive effect of the interactive CRE on the propagation mode of the SH zonal wind directly through the CRE wave source and/or indirectly through modulating other diabatic processes. As a result, the propagation mode becomes more persistent and the SAM it represents becomes more predictable when the interactive CRE is disabled by cloud locking. Future efforts on inter‐model comparisons of CRE‐denial experiments are important to build consensus on the dynamical feedback of CRE.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2019

Twofold expansion of Indo-Pacific warm pool warps MJO lifecycle

The Madden Julian Oscillation (MJO) is the most dominant mode of subseasonal variability in the tropics, characterized by an eastward moving disturbance of rain clouds. The MJO modulates the El Niño Southern Oscillation1, tropical cyclones and the monsoons—and contributes to severe weather events over Asia, Australia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. MJO events travel a stretch of 12,000–20,000 kms over the tropical oceans, which has been warming during the twentieth and early-twenty first centuries in response to greenhouse gas forcing, and is projected to warm further. However, the impact of this warming on the MJO lifecycle is largely unknown. Here we show that rapid warming over the tropical oceans during 1981–2018 has warped the MJO lifecycle, with its residence time decreasing over the Indian Ocean by 3–4 days, and increasing over the Indo-Pacific Maritime Continent by 5–6 days. We find that these changes in the MJO lifecycle is associated with a twofold expansion of the Indo-Pacific warm pool, which has been expanding on an average by 2.3 × 10 5 km 2 (the size of Washington State) per year during 1900–2018 and at an accelerated average rate of 4 × 10 5 km 2 (the size of California) per year during 1981–2018. The changes in the warm pool and the MJO are related to an increased rainfall over Southeast Asia, northern Australia, Southwest Africa and the Amazon, and drying over the west coast of United States and Ecuador.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗